Haiti

I have been reading about the devastation in Haiti from the earthquake and I was reminded of the Long Beach earthquake of the 1930s. I lived in Lynwood which was just north of Long Beach and Compton which were both really demolished. All of the brick buildings in Lynwood were destroyed, schools, stores and churches. The buildings that were made of wood and plaster came through with some damage, but most were still usable. The businesses of Compton moved to a large semi-permanent building that had been used as a summer home for the circus. Each business had a small area where they set up their stores until they could rebuild. It was like a large carnival for the kids, I remember it quite exciting to wander the lanes between the stores.

After the earthquake my brother Bill and I took our wagons uptown Lynwood and picked up bricks from the street and brought them home, where we chipped off the cement and stacked them and the others were used over the years. At that time, we all burned our own trash, none of us had heard about global warming yet, as Al Gore hadn’t discovered it yet. Interestingly, the school I attended appeared to be undamaged, but it wasn’t considered earthquake safe, so it was condemned and torn down. We went to classes in old army tents for several years until it was rebuilt over the old foundation. One time I  found a vent that could be opened and I crawled  under the new building and found the original old stairs to the rear entrance that they had just left where they were and built around them. After that when I wanted peace and quiet, I would crawl under the building and sit on the bottom step. There were two vents close by that gave ample light and it was very quiet, if school was out. I didn’t share my discovery with anyone and as far as I know, no one else knew about the entry as I wouldn’t open  it if anyone was around and as soon as I entered I closed it. I found out early in life that the only secret that remained a secret was one that only you knew. I think it is safe for me to divulge this now, since I am not going back.